BELMONT — In a matter of weeks, brothers Nick and Tanner Muse will report to their respective NFL training camps in an effort to earn roster spots ahead of the 2024 season. Last Friday, however, the South Point High products took time from their daily training regimens to have a little fun.
A stone’s throw from South Point’s Lineberger Stadium, close to 200 youths took part in a host of activities as part of the third annual Muse Brothers Football Camp.
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“It’s a surreal moment just to see all the kids who look up to you, even the parents who look up to you. It doesn’t matter the age,” said Nick Muse of the Minnesota Vikings. “You know you’re giving back to the community; giving back to South Point, which is a place where a lot of coaches, a lot of older heads and mentors showed me the way. If I can give back to a 5-year-old how I was raised, stuff like that, just giving back is the No. 1 priority.”
Participants engaged in skill development drills honing their footwork, tackling and other techniques which may be of future use on the football field.
“In my opinion, if you’re given a lot, (much) is expected (of you),” said Tanner Muse, who is preparing for his fourth NFL season, his second with the Los Angeles Chargers. “This is God-given; for us to get to the level we’ve gotten to, we just want to give back to the community in any way, shape or form we can. Thankfully, we get to put on this camp every year, be able to be in the community, get with the kids, enjoy a little football together.
“That’s what is so great about (football); it brings all different kinds of cultures together, mixing it up in one and just let everybody have a little bit of fun.”
A 2015 graduate of South Point, Tanner was a four-year letter winner and two-time national champion at Clemson. He was selected in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft by the Las Vegas Raiders. Though never taking the field for the Raiders, he played two seasons for the Seattle Seahawks before taking the field last fall with the Chargers.
In 33 career games, he has 21 total tackles and one pass deflection.
As for brother Nick, he was drafted in the seventh round of the 2022 NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings. During a college career in which he played at William & Mary and South Carolina, he caught 101 passes for 1,303 yards and five touchdowns.
While business of the NFL will soon separate them by hundreds of miles, last Friday’s activities proved a worthy distraction from the rigors to come.
“This is the time to get ready, so we’re just hitting it hard, hitting the ground running, staying in shape and trying to get in our peak physical form,” Tanner Muse said. “Once camp comes around you gotta have your full armor ready to go for about a month for that teeter-totter time of making the team or not making the team.”
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